Saurabh Gupta
Founder & President, SHUDDHI NGO
Saurabh founded SHUDDHI in 2014, after coming back to India from the UK, to empower vulnerable communities through clean water, sanitation, waste management, education and women's leadership. He leads SHUDDHI with a vision of long-term, systemic change grounded in local participation.
- MSc, University of Bristol
- UNESCO-IHE, Delft
- B.Tech Civil, NIT Karnataka
- Activist of the Year 2017
Why SHUDDHI
While studying water and waste management abroad, Saurabh saw how far India was from a proper waste management system. He returned home and registered SHUDDHI as an NGO in New Delhi, one year before the Swachh Bharat campaign began, and from the start involved local communities in every project.
Driven by a passion for sustainable development and community well-being, he built SHUDDHI around clean water, sanitation, waste management, education and women's leadership, and grew it into an all-India network of volunteers, members and partner NGOs.
Working style in SHUDDHI is different from other organisations and always has a better scope for everyone. Team SHUDDHI motivates employees and volunteers to achieve their own goals, not only the organisation's goals.
Saurabh Gupta · Founder's message
Education & career
- EngineeringB.Tech, Civil EngineeringNational Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK), Surathkal, India.
- WaterGraduate Certificate, Water ManagementUNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, Delft, the Netherlands.
- Master'sMSc, Water & Environmental ManagementUniversity of Bristol, United Kingdom.
- Public sectorEnvironmental & water engineer, WAPCOSA government enterprise under India's Ministry of Water Resources, on large water and environment projects. The gaps he saw in delivery at community level led him to found SHUDDHI.
- 2014 – todayFounder & President, SHUDDHI NGOLeading SHUDDHI's work on clean water, Swachh Bharat, education, women's livelihoods and disaster relief across India.
On video
His guiding philosophy
“True development is not measured by what we build, but by the lives we lift, and by enabling people to hold their dignity.”
He mentors young changemakers, works with public institutions, and brings scientific and indigenous knowledge together to design solutions that scale and stay humane.
Recognition
Work with Saurabh
- Partnerships in research, policy and funding
- Volunteering and grassroots support
- Technical exchange and fellowships in water, environment and community development
